The Gilda Stories: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition

This 25th-anniversary edition of the vampire classic seems almost archaic in a market that’s since been flooded with urban fantasy; however, its focus on a black lesbian who possesses considerable agency throughout the centuries, and its commentary on gender and race, remain significant and powerful. After Gilda, a former slave, is turned into a vampire in the 1850s, she drifts through the subsequent decades, constantly redefining her sense of home and family as she gradually constructs a circle of friends and loved ones. Gilda reinvents herself every so often, always looking for peace and belonging. Her journey takes her from antebellum New Orleans to 1920s Missouri, 1950s Boston, 1970s New York, and on toward the ecologically ravaged future of 2050. Gomez’s narrative voice is distant and often poetic, keeping readers at arm’s length from her characters and lending this story a magical realism feel that those used to noir-influenced urban fantasy may find disconcerting. Its episodic nature provides additional challenges, but the character relationships and nuggets of insight are worth the effort. (Apr.)